


The Trials of Thor, Prince of Asgard

by JaneDoe33



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt, Frustrated Thor, Gen, Hurt Loki, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Loki (Marvel) Angst, Loki Angst, OOC Thor, Post-Thor (2011), Pre-Thor (2011), Stream of Consciousness, Thor (Marvel) Angst, Thor Angst, Thor POV, Train of Thought, Vulnerable Loki, broken train of thought, egotistical thor, thor is a lot more vascillating and self-deprecating than normal, vulnerable thor, young loki, young thor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 09:24:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14746163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneDoe33/pseuds/JaneDoe33
Summary: In any case, Loki doesn't look like he cares. His apathy scares Thor in a way his viciousness never had. Loki puts his hands in Thor's, dull and almost docile and Thor tries not to blanch. He'll fix this. He has to fix this. Everything will be fine and he'll get his brother back, the one he knew, not this scarred, haunted shadow of the man he knew and loved, alternately apathetic and vengeful. Thor can do this. Heknowshe can.





	The Trials of Thor, Prince of Asgard

1\. Thor is 2 and has just discovered the world outside his nursery is a vast and exciting place. Every day he finds something new. One day, he returns to find Frigga cooing over a tiny baby. Odin seems wary, as if he is afraid Thor may be jealous. He needn't have worried. Thor is fascinated. He gazes at Loki's tiny toes silently and thinks he's never seen anything so small. From that day onwards, it's hard to tear the older prince away from the baby for long.

2\. Loki is 8 and Thor is 10. Already, Thor being older and more outgoing, has ~~a solid fan club~~ shield brothers ( and sisters ) . Loki tags along and tries to join in. One time, Fandral makes him cry. They laugh at him. Thor laughs along, a little embarrassed, not wanting to seem soft in front of his new friends. Loki stands there, his ears reddening, too proud to cry but his lower lip is trembling and Thor wants to make it better, but he has just met Fandral and Volstagg and Sif and why does Loki have to be so _sensitive_?  If only he made more of an effort -

3\. Loki is 13 and Thor is 15. Loki chooses to spend his days in the library, Thor in the battlefield. The difference between the brothers is painfully apparent yet they still remain close. Loki accompanies Thor on many of his adventures and indeed, instigates many himself.

4\. Loki is 17 and Thor, 19. It's the day of his coronation. He is excited, yet a thread of faint unease runs alongside his anticipation - Loki has been acting strange of late - well, stranger than usual - and won't tell him why. He soon forgets though and if Loki slips away unheeded midway through the festivities, most do not notice and none comment on it. Loki does not have many friends. Shield companions yes, and those eager to further their social standing by winning Loki's favour but that is all. Sometimes Thor is frustrated. If only Loki would be less – less _himself,_ perhaps he'd have more friends. He is called Silvertongue, yet he seldom uses it to win over others and seems to prefer to needle them with barbed words instead. Thor's head jerks up. Someone calls him. He is ushered out.

5\. Later, the same day, Jotnar break into the royal palace and try to steal the Casket. They die in the attempt, their burnt blue corpses proof of their treachery. It _is_ treachery, isn't it ? A voice in the back of his head whispers, if the Casket belonged to them in the first place, is it really so wrong to try to take it back ? He shakes off his doubts quickly. Doubt is for the weak. Besides, the Jotnar are monsters. Everyone knows that. He catches his brother's eye across the hall. Loki looks like Thor feels - faintly sick. Thor looks away.

6\. Thor is on the Bifrost, on his way to Jotunheim. Loki tries to stop him, to no avail. But that is Loki all over. He thinks too much. Loki tries to persuade Heimdell to let them pass and fails. Volstagg mocks him. Thor thinks he sees Loki flinch but then Loki's face is smooth again and Thor is sure he imagined it. Easy banter among friends - nothing to worry about, surely.

7\. Laufey is lounging lazily in his throne, in the midst of this strange world of ice and snow and he has just insulted Thor. He, Thor, is Prince of Asgard and this – this _beast_ has dared to insult _him_.  He must be reminded of his place, his _true_   significance in the grand order of things and Loki is whispering in his ear, advising caution, but that is for Thor to decide and Thor alone and Loki must be reminded of his place too. _Know your place, brother_.  Loki falls silent and Thor pretends it doesn't bother him. Besides there's no time. They are in the midst of battle.

8\. Thor is fighting desperately, felling dozens of enemies at a time, and his friends are holding their own too, but more Jotnar are joining the battle. Out of the corner of his eye, Thor sees Loki fighting alongside him, taking down almost as many Jotnar as he is. One of them grabs his arm. Thor thinks he sees a flash of blue but when he looks again, Loki is as pale as ever, breathing hard and looking vaguely nauseated. The Jotun is lying dead at his feet, stabbed through the heart. The Jotnar keep coming and Thor knows it is too much, there are too many, so he does what he should have done at the beginning ( stupid, _stupid_ ) and calls Heimdell.

9\. Odin is furious, and Thor, dimly aware that Odin has every right to be angry, still roars back at him. It is not in his nature to back down. In his peripheral vision, Loki looks pale and pinched and like he is barely holding it together and Thor thinks absently that that's strange, they have risked their lives many times during their adventures together and none of them fazed his little brother usually. But then Odin is shouting again and Thor is distracted.

10\. Thor is hanging from the edge of the Bifrost and Loki is hanging on to Gungnir. His mind is awhirl, he doesn't understand, _why,_ why would Loki lie about so many things, about Odin, what could he have done differently ?  Loki loved him, didn't he ? ( _" Sometimes I am envious, but never doubt that I love you. "_   ) But soon it doesn't matter, none of it matters, because Loki lets go and a part of Thor goes with him.

11\. The Tesseract has been stolen and Thor is working with his Midgardian friends now but there are rumours that Loki has been sighted on Earth, and Thor can hardly contain himself. If this is true, if he is alive - but he needs proof.

12\. 80 people dead in three days. He certainly has proof now. A part of him guiltily remembers doing something similar in Jotunheim and all that over a petty insult. His friends on Midgard do not know and he will not tell them. He needs their help to get his brother back.

13\. He finds Loki but Loki looks different, hollowed out, exhausted, hair longer and unkempt. His eyes burn brightly, too brightly in his pale face, like holes burned in a sheet. Loki tells him that he has seen worlds that Thor never knew about, he has grown in his exile - he is pared down to almost nothing, Thor notices with a pang, cheekbones jutting out like knives, papery skin stretched tightly over his skull.

14\. They win. The Avengers win and Loki is in chains and muzzled like an animal, but what choice does he have, Thor doesn't have a choice, doesn't he _understand_ ,  there was no other way to stop him. In any case, Loki doesn't look like he cares. His apathy scares Thor in a way his viciousness never has. Loki puts his hands in Thor's, dull and almost docile and Thor tries not to blanch. He'll fix this. He has to fix this. Everything will be fine and he'll get his brother back, the one he knew, not this scarred, haunted shadow of the man he knew and loved, alternately apathetic and vengeful. Thor can do this. He _knows_ he can.


End file.
